Is this sand legit?

[fogcutter]

Planning on a 3 inch sand bed for various reasons one of which...it's aesthetically pleasing to me. Found this sand that's fairly inexpensive and I plan to supplement with Carib Sea live sand or some other dry sand. Plan on keeping some sand sifters and some captive bred Gobys.

It's called Sandtastick Pure White Playsand (sugar sized grains). There's a larger grain size available as well. It comes pre-washed and the description says:

MADE FROM

• Feldspar rock

CONTAINS

• NO crystalline silica
• NO quartz
• NO asbestos - all types
• NO wheat or gluten
• NO nuts or seeds - all types

Love it? Hate it? Is it the devil? Inquiring minds and all that.....

P.S. If anyone remembers from 20+ years ago...I had once cornered the market in the SW for Southdown Playsand.

 

[pshootr]

I am not sure about that sand. But as far as silica sand, there has been much debate about this. I did some reading about it myself, and there seems to be a lot of unnecessary hysteria about using it. I ended up coming across an article which explained it's makeup and qualities. And the result was that it does not break down in your tank. Their idea was that it is no more likely to break down in your tank then the glass your tank is made from. Glass is made from silica sand.

 

[pshootr]

For what it's worth I used silica sand for a cichlid tank years ago. It was sand from a brickyard and sold for mixing mortar. I had that tank setup for several years, and had zero algae problems. I did not vacuum the sand, I did not stir the sand. It remained looking beautiful for the entire life of the tank.

 

[pshootr]

I would love to set a 10 gallon tank with silica sand. Keep a damsel in it for 6 months. And then send a sample to Triton. On my bucket list.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I wouldn’t use it because it isn’t aragonite.

 

[pshootr]

I wouldn’t use it because it isn’t aragonite.

Personally I'm not really sure. But I have seen reports that the buffering capacity of aragonite is way way overrated

 

[Gareth elliott]

Playsand can work in a tank. Its been the top layer of my planted for some years(forget when i yanked the dirt out).

But it is still a silica based salt, will provide no buffering, and could promote diatoms in some tanks. But grain size would be my concern my play sand is a lot finer than my fiji pink and would sand storm in my reef with its flow.

 

[pshootr]

Playsand can work in a tank. Its been the top layer of my planted for some years(forget when i yanked the dirt out).

But it is still a silica based salt, will provide no buffering, and could promote diatoms in some tanks. But grain size would be my concern my play sand is a lot finer than my fiji pink and would sand storm in my reef with its flow.

This is exactly what the article I read was about. How bad silica sand is and how good aragonite is. The final point that was demonstrated was that none of this is really true.

 

[pshootr]

Now in an aquifer where water has been running through rocks for I don't know, millions of years. It has probably had an effect on the pH. But in the real world your fish tank I don't think is gaining anything. especially the way we do water changes any minut amount that was to come out you would discard. I believe you have to run CO2 through calcium for the effect to occur. A calcium reactor would be useless without injecting CO2 correct?

If a calcium reactor is useless without injecting CO2. Then I don't see how a sand bed can be effective. Of course I am no scientist. So I can't say this definitively. I'm just doing my best attempt to utilize logic.

[emoji23]

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

It’s not just the buffering capacity, it’s also the grain size, porosity, hardness, and smoothness. If you plan to have any sand dwelling or sand sifting critters I would especially consider this.

 

[BestMomEver]

We ordered a pallet of Southdown play sand for our 500 when we set it up. We ran that tank for years with no issues whatsoever.

 

[pshootr]

It’s not just the buffering capacity, it’s also the grain size, porosity, hardness, and smoothness. If you plan to have any sand dwelling or sand sifting critters I would especially consider this.

Well both silica sand and reef Sands come in different grain sizes. Both come in fine and both come in course. Porosity would be an advantage for bacteria. I know that different parts of the coastline, and ocean often have totally different sand. One of the beaches here has superfine Sugar Sand. Another Beach here has really course sharp sand with lots of crushed shell in it. And Flounder live in both places.

I think it is wise to consider sand sifting Critters. But I don't really see why they would have any problem with silica sand to be honest.

 

[falc]

FWIW we have used pool filter sand for years in our freshwater tanks, we have never had any issue with it.. its cheap and can pick it up at any pool supply store.
I went with a much larger grain sand in my new 40 gallon mixed with crushed coral pieces and crushed seashell..

 

[fogcutter]

But it is still a silica based salt, will provide no buffering, and could promote diatoms in some tanks. But grain size would be my concern my play sand is a lot finer than my fiji pink and would sand storm in my reef with its flow.

Great discussion all...thanks! From the website is states that there's:

• NO crystalline silica

If that means something different than no silica...then I'm not sure what it means. Also, it does come in a larger grain size called...funnily enough...Therapy Sand. This sand would NOT be the predominant sand in the tank...it would just be a white layer on top that looks good and would be good for the sand critters. I also used the Southdown Playsand in my reef tank years ago with no probs at all...however to be fair....that was pure calcium carbonate sand. Sure wish it was still around....beautiful stuff and about $5 for a 50 lb bag.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

On a microscopic scale, silica sand is coarse and sharp. As you said above, it’s basically crushed glass.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

A layer on top will not work. It will all get mixed together relatively quickly.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Great discussion all...thanks! From the website is states that there's:

• NO crystalline silica

If that means something different than no silica...then I'm not sure what it means.

Feldspar is a silica based rock.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldspar

 

[jda]

Some misinformation here.

First, pH in the sandbed is not the same as the tank. The water column pH only needs to get to about 7.7 for the lower pH in the sand to buffer. Aragonite can save a crash is a lot of situations - most people think that the whole tank has the same pH, which is not true at all.

Second, aragonite will act as a buffer for phosphate as well. Silica Sand tanks usually have issues with high phosphate and you will spend a fortune in GFO, LC or the like. People learned this the hard way after Southdown was no longer available.

Third, the surface area for aragonite is massive compared to silica. This is good for anoxic bacteria and oxic bacteria alike.

Fourth, silica sand is not good for sand sifters (if you want any) and is like they digesting a million tiny razor blades.

Silica sand does not appear to release much silica into the system, so there is not reason to sweat this... but also no reason to use it either. You cannot afford to be cheap here.

 

[fogcutter]

Got it....probably stick with the carbonates. To be fair...saying Feldspar (especially K-spar) is a silica sand is kind of a reach and without knowing the exact composition who knows? And the the crystallized part (that's not there) would be the pointy bits. But I'm with ya that there's better alternatives at nearly the same cost. Aaaaannnnddd this is why I like it here.

 

[pshootr]

Some misinformation here.

First, pH in the sandbed is not the same as the tank. The water column pH only needs to get to about 7.7 for the lower pH in the sand to buffer. Aragonite can save a crash is a lot of situations - most people think that the whole tank has the same pH, which is not true at all.

Second, aragonite will act as a buffer for phosphate as well. Silica Sand tanks usually have issues with high phosphate and you will spend a fortune in GFO, LC or the like. People learned this the hard way after Southdown was no longer available.

Third, the surface area for aragonite is massive compared to silica. This is good for anoxic bacteria and oxic bacteria alike.

Fourth, silica sand is not good for sand sifters (if you want any) and is like they digesting a million tiny razor blades.

Silica sand does not appear to release much silica into the system, so there is not reason to sweat this... but also no reason to use it either. You cannot afford to be cheap here.

Interesting stuff. I just found this thread you started a while back.

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?posts/4379276

Should be an interesting read. Thank you for your input.

By the way, I love your avatar!